Morning/Afternoon/Evening all,
I'm writing to you from a hostel in Hanoi (but more on that later).
So I left you all in suspense, mid-way through last week. Was he going to book his tickets to Vietnam? Wasn't he? Was he going to extend his Chinese visa by another month? Exciting stuff.
Anyway, I bought the flights to Hanoi, and booked my hostel for the first night, and here I am now!
Last week, we had another bank holiday in China, meaning that I had last Friday off. This meant that Thursday night constituted part of the weekend, and accordingly, we went out. What started off as a quiet dinner and drink with my teacher and classmate, rapidly degenerated into a night of drunkenness (as standard). There's not much more that needs to be said on this, but in my drunken state, I stumbled (literally) upon a bar playing the sort of Roots Reggae music that I like back in England.
As expected, I slept in on Friday. Woke up, went to a cafe to work, met one of my classmates and we ended up talking, so I didn't do any work. Then another friend called me, telling me that some of our other friends were in the area and I should join them for dinner and a drink. I wasn't one to refuse, and the result was another big night out.
On Saturday, we decided to change it up a little, and went to Beijing's annual Strawberry Music Festival. The festival actually had nothing to do with strawberries, or fruit of any sort, but we had a great day out. Most of the Chinese bands were influenced by an equivalent band in Britain/America, and it was quite interesting to hear what sounded like 1990s Brit-Pop, only in Chinese. They had a drum and bass tent there, where we spent most of the evening. It made a welcome change from some of the bars and clubs playing generic RnB.
I'm struggling to remember what I did on Sunday, but I'm sure that it was pretty uneventful, hence me forgetting it.
The rest of the week consisted of a series of long goodbyes. I had my last dinner with the family on Tuesday night, the mum had made (I say made, but there's not much making involved) Hot Pot - which is basically a pot of boiling water and spices, into which you dip vegetables, tofu and the like. She actually started to get quite tearful at a couple of stages this week, which was quite touching. The family kept telling me to come back and stay with them again, and now, I feel like I would definitely be welcome to come back.
I had a leaving do with my schoolmates and other colleagues on Wednesday night, organised by my friend Adam. I was really touched because several of the teachers and the staff at the school decided to join us too. We started at a pizza place, washing down the pizza with copious amounts of beer. Then we moved on to a bar which had half priced drinks, and finally (and this part gets a bit blurry), we went to a karaoke bar. The night literally ended with a bang, when one of our group collided with a table, knocked over lots of bottles and glasses, and we made a swift exit!
Today, feeling ridiculously hungover, having had only 6 hours sleep, I packed my bags, said my goodbyes, tried to keep some food down and went on my way.
I would go so far as to say that this time in Beijing was even better than the last. My Chinese is at such a level that I can understand 60-70% of what people say, and communicate my meaning for the most part. I have started to watch Chinese films, and am finding that I am understanding large chunks of the dialogue. During this time, I have experienced life living in a Chinese household, and paradoxically, have also realised what the Beijing ex-pat lifestyle would be. I have made lots of new friends from around the world, and am now even closer to some old friends. And most importantly, my love affair with China remains intact, and I could see myself spending some more time there.
Next up: Hanoi,
Love you all,
Nihal
I'm writing to you from a hostel in Hanoi (but more on that later).
So I left you all in suspense, mid-way through last week. Was he going to book his tickets to Vietnam? Wasn't he? Was he going to extend his Chinese visa by another month? Exciting stuff.
Anyway, I bought the flights to Hanoi, and booked my hostel for the first night, and here I am now!
Last week, we had another bank holiday in China, meaning that I had last Friday off. This meant that Thursday night constituted part of the weekend, and accordingly, we went out. What started off as a quiet dinner and drink with my teacher and classmate, rapidly degenerated into a night of drunkenness (as standard). There's not much more that needs to be said on this, but in my drunken state, I stumbled (literally) upon a bar playing the sort of Roots Reggae music that I like back in England.
As expected, I slept in on Friday. Woke up, went to a cafe to work, met one of my classmates and we ended up talking, so I didn't do any work. Then another friend called me, telling me that some of our other friends were in the area and I should join them for dinner and a drink. I wasn't one to refuse, and the result was another big night out.
On Saturday, we decided to change it up a little, and went to Beijing's annual Strawberry Music Festival. The festival actually had nothing to do with strawberries, or fruit of any sort, but we had a great day out. Most of the Chinese bands were influenced by an equivalent band in Britain/America, and it was quite interesting to hear what sounded like 1990s Brit-Pop, only in Chinese. They had a drum and bass tent there, where we spent most of the evening. It made a welcome change from some of the bars and clubs playing generic RnB.
I'm struggling to remember what I did on Sunday, but I'm sure that it was pretty uneventful, hence me forgetting it.
The rest of the week consisted of a series of long goodbyes. I had my last dinner with the family on Tuesday night, the mum had made (I say made, but there's not much making involved) Hot Pot - which is basically a pot of boiling water and spices, into which you dip vegetables, tofu and the like. She actually started to get quite tearful at a couple of stages this week, which was quite touching. The family kept telling me to come back and stay with them again, and now, I feel like I would definitely be welcome to come back.
I had a leaving do with my schoolmates and other colleagues on Wednesday night, organised by my friend Adam. I was really touched because several of the teachers and the staff at the school decided to join us too. We started at a pizza place, washing down the pizza with copious amounts of beer. Then we moved on to a bar which had half priced drinks, and finally (and this part gets a bit blurry), we went to a karaoke bar. The night literally ended with a bang, when one of our group collided with a table, knocked over lots of bottles and glasses, and we made a swift exit!
Today, feeling ridiculously hungover, having had only 6 hours sleep, I packed my bags, said my goodbyes, tried to keep some food down and went on my way.
I would go so far as to say that this time in Beijing was even better than the last. My Chinese is at such a level that I can understand 60-70% of what people say, and communicate my meaning for the most part. I have started to watch Chinese films, and am finding that I am understanding large chunks of the dialogue. During this time, I have experienced life living in a Chinese household, and paradoxically, have also realised what the Beijing ex-pat lifestyle would be. I have made lots of new friends from around the world, and am now even closer to some old friends. And most importantly, my love affair with China remains intact, and I could see myself spending some more time there.
Next up: Hanoi,
Love you all,
Nihal
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